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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279719">icarus, with the weight of the world on his shoulders</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinball_mentality/pseuds/pinball_mentality'>pinball_mentality</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>catalyst (the little giant is a title of the future) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Character Study, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, One Shot, back at it again with the little giant angst, i really like doing those have you noticed, inspired by the line “icarus gets a day job”, lots of icarus metaphors, lowercase intended, no beta we die like daichi, yeah it’s just him this time, you: [glances at my like 50 character studies] no.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:41:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>384</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26279719</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinball_mentality/pseuds/pinball_mentality</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>he remembers being the little giant. jumping up high, higher than anyone thought possible. he remembers flying, and seeing the view from the summit. he remembers playing volleyball.</p><p>udai tenma remembers being invincible.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>catalyst (the little giant is a title of the future) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1909456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>icarus, with the weight of the world on his shoulders</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>i love udai, why do i do this to my favorites??? i’m so sorry tenma you don’t deserve this</p><p>anyways, enjoy!! :D</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>he gets asked why he doesn't play volleyball anymore more often than he can count. he used to get asked way more often when he was fresh out of high school, with short hair and big smiles and no clue where he was going to go next. it was a rather annoying question, but he gets why people ask it. he was at the top once. why would he let that all go to waste?</p><p>he remembers being the little giant. jumping up high, higher than anyone thought possible. he remembers flying, and seeing the view from the summit. he remembers playing volleyball.</p><p>udai tenma remembers being invincible.</p><p>that's a foreign feeling to him now. deadlines and the accompanying stress pile on his shoulders and weigh him down, forcing him back into reality. he forces smiles more often than he'd care to admit. he feels like he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders, sometimes, and his wings are nothing more than distant memories.</p><p>udai tenma used to be able to fly, to conquer anyone and anything. he used to be young and prideful and free. he used to be the ace, the source of strength for his team. he used to be the little giant.</p><p>but he grew up, and he's an adult now. he's a manga artist and he wouldn't change that for anything, but sometimes he wants to be invincible again. to fly high and feel the warmth of the sun on his face, to have the support of five other people at all times. sometimes he imagines the tall, tall wall in front of him and the feeling of pride when he flew higher than the wall could reach.</p><p>so whenever someone asked why he didn't play volleyball anymore, he'd smile at them. it'd be a little sad, and a little nostalgic, but it'd never hold any regret. he'd tell them that he wasn't the little giant anymore, that it wasn't his title to claim. his wings vanished a long time ago.</p><p>udai tenma used to be icarus, flying high above everyone else, flying higher than the wall. now he's more like atlas, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders with piles of wax pooling around his feet. he is an adult, now.</p><p>icarus grew up.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>so yknow how in the last one i wanted to include something about his hair??? yeah no i did that this time. also it’s like 12:30 midnight so please forgive/point out any mistakes you see.</p><p>anyways, thanks for reading!! feel free to drop a comment and/or some kudos!! it gives me that sweet, sweet serotonin. :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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